1. Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to a therapeutic exercise technique in which a patient suffering from an abnormal condition undergoes during an exercise session a series of exercise-relaxation cycles generating heart waves, and more particularly to a chronotherapy technique in which the heart waves generated in each exercise session are synchronized in time with an internal wave produced by a biological clock to enhance the efficacy of treatment.
2. Status of Prior Art
The human heart consists of two pumps having similar outputs, one pump sending blood through a pulmonary network, the other through the systemic network of the body. The human heart pumps the entire blood contents of the body through its chambers every minute. In mechanical terms, the heart exerts between 35-50 foot-pounds of pressure every minute. During strenuous exercise, it may exert as much as 500 foot-pounds.
A heart beat or pulse is one complete pulsation of the heart. A typical infant has a heart rate at rest of 130 beats per minute. This rate thereafter slows down so that in adulthood the rate at rest is about 70 beats per minute. When an increased demand is made upon the heart, the heart pulse rate quickens and the heart also pumps more blood with each beat, so that the heart output can be nearly doubled from its normal resting output.
Physical activity requires the expenditure of energy, and with exercise the heart pulse rate of a child may rise as high as 200 beats per minute, the rate dropping to about 80 when the child lies down. With aging, one experiences a progressive decline in the maximum heart pulse rate. In exercise physiology, the rule of thumb is that an individual's maximum heart rate is 220 minus his age. Hence for a 50 year old individual, his attainable maximum pulse rate is 220−50 which is 170 beats per minute.
My prior U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,430 discloses an exercise technique for inducing relaxation to counteract the adverse physiological and psychological effects of chronic stress on an individual. In this technique the individual being treated is coupled to a heart beat monitor and his heart beat is constantly monitored and displayed to him as he goes through a conditioning exercise session constituted by successive exercise-relaxation cycles running for a predetermined period.
In the course of each cycle, the individual while operating a stationary bicycle, a rowing machine or other exercise apparatus, is required to raise his level of exertion, as indicated by his perceived heart pulse rate, to a peak representing a predetermined safe upper limit, following which he must decrease his exertion until he reaches a lower limit at which a recovery-relaxation response takes place. The upper and lower limits are determined by the individual's existing capacity for exercise and defines his target heart rate zone.
My prior exercise technique whose purpose is to relieve mental stress is grounded on the premise that the exertion experienced in exercise and the recovery therefrom entail physiological and psychological processes that effectively corresponding to stress and relaxation.
The present state of medical knowledge with regard to chronic diseases is such that no single cause or cure therefor has yet to be found. Chronic diseases have been imputed to a multitude of factors, such as structural abnormalities, gene mutation and altered levels of chemicals, e.g. cholesterol, calcium, T-4 cells, etc. This is the current basis for biochemical testing of a patient's condition. Behavioral factors also come into play in producing such disorders as obesity, clinical depression and sleep abnormalities. Also taken into account in the etiology of diseases are environmental factors including pesticides, and atmospheric pollution.
The current practice in treating patients who suffer from abnormal organic conditions involve the use of drugs, radiotherapy and surgical intervention. Biofeedback and stress reduction is used to treat behavioral abnormalities.
The concern of the present invention is with treating patients having an abnormal condition which regardless of its cause and nature, is indicated by a depressed heart state characterized by a resting heart pulse rate that deviates from the normal resting rate and a maximum heart pulse rate that deviates from the normal maximum rate. The state is now referred to in medicine as a heart rate variability (HRV), that is reduced, the variability referring to the change in pulse rate from a minimum level at rest to a maximum level when energy is being expended.
Patient's who suffer from various diseases, such as multiple-sclerosis, cancer and cardiovascular disease, clinical depression, anorexia, and a host of other abnormalities, all exhibit a depressed heart condition and therefore a reduced heart rate variability. The extent to which the heart is depressed and impairs the patient's health varies from patient to patient. But it is this common denominator that is the foundation for an exercise program in accordance with the invention, whose objective is to lift this depression and restore the well being of the patient.
In my above-identified copending application there is disclosed a therapeutic exercise program for treating a patient having an abnormal condition indicated by a maximum heart pulse rate that deviates from a normal maximum rate and a resting heart pulse rate that deviates from a normal resting rate whereby the heart rate range is compromised, resulting in a reduced HRV.
The program is carried out by continuously monitoring the heart pulse rate of the patient while subjecting the patient to a series of exercise-relaxation cycles in which during each cycle the exercising patient first expends a surge of energy causing his pulse rate to reach a peak value above the resting heart rate to a degree that depends on the patient's physical state. At this point the patient relaxes and his heart rate, because of a pendulum effect induced in the patient's heart, swings down from the peak value to a point below said resting heart rate.
The exercise program is continued until the patient's HRV approaches a normal value and the abnormal condition is alleviated. While an exercise treatment as disclosed in my copending patent application is highly beneficial, it does not take into account the internal rhythms or waves of a biological clock and therefore does not take advantage of an exercise treatment that is so timed in related to these rhythms as to optimize the efficacy of the treatment.